Russian Coal in the Era of Climate Change: Why it Will Survive and Will Not Become a Bargaining Chip in Relations with the West? [Hardcover]

The Russian coal sector today faces challenges in the form of global decarbonization, sanctions, and difficulties in retaining market access and competitiveness. This new market environment warrants an examination of what lessons can be drawn from the past tribulations of one of Russias most iconic and strategically important industries. This book analyzes the Russian coal industry developments in historical and political contexts, including those of energy transition. The key tenets of contemporary dialogue between Russia and those who advocate for a speedy energy transition to phase out coal are presented. The book addresses the question of the coal industry as a sacrifice for the sake of Russias rapprochement with the West. The contribution of this book, therefore, is filling the gap between two large research inquiries  climate change mitigation and energy transition on the one hand, and the existing large coal industry of a given country on the other.

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Coal in the Soviet Economy.- Chapter 3: Reforms in the Russian coal sector.- Chapter 4: Regional trends within the Russian coal sector: Cases of Komi, Kuzbass and Sakhalin.- Chapter 5: Modern Coal Companies of Russia.- Chapter 6: Interconnections between international coal and natural gas markets.- Chapter 7: Russian Coal Sector in the Age of Climate Change.- Chapter 8: Conclusions.

Nikita Lomagin is Academic Director of the Energy Policy and International Relations Research Center (ENERPO), European University at St. Petersburg and Professor in the World Economy Department at St. Petersburg State University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard and researcher at the Kennan Institute, University of Michigan Law School, Finnish Institute for international relations.